As Always
by someonestolemyshoes49
Summary: "How he knew where to find her, she didn't know. But he came, and that's all that mattered." Tag to 3x11. Damon picks Elena up from Wickery Bridge after Stefan drives away. One-shot.


**A/N: Hello all! Right-o, this is my first Vampire Diaries fanfiction! Very exciting. I liked it, but I'm not really interested in my own opinion. Yours, on the other hand? Yours makes aaaall (my laptop tried to autocorrect that to 'anal'. Thought you'd want to know) the difference. So, you know, if you get time, drop me a review. Let me know what you think. **

**Disclaimer; sadly, I own nothing you recognise. In my very bestest dreams I have my very own Damon, but that not something you really need to know. **

**Apologies for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes. I'm not much of a writer. I try, but it's a work-in-progress. **

There was nothing to do but stare, she decided, down into the darkness below her where she knew the water lay. Without the headlights she couldn't hope to see anything in any real clarity. It wouldn't have mattered if she could; even the darkness hadn't registered. She felt blank. It wasn't an unfamiliar sensation, but it was no less unpleasant than it had been the first time. It was a numbness that seeped down to the bone and froze her blood in her veins.

Once or twice she debated walking home, but no matter how much she willed herself to move, her limbs remained uncooperative. So she stayed, unintentionally resolute, her arms folded across her chest and her gaze falling blind over the edge of the bridge.

He had left her. Stefan had _left_ her. Here, of all places. If there was some irony in the situation, she couldn't see it. He had threatened to drive her off the damn bridge and let her drown; a fate she'd avoided once, and a scenario she'd rather not replicate. A part of her wondered if it amused him. She wandered if new Stefan found the funny in making her squirm and squeal and scream.

She fought to hold on to the numbness, because she knew if she let it go, she would feel, and right now that's the last thing she wanted. But everything was crashing down in a chain as though she were made of dominoes, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Stefan had kidnapped her. The thought hit her like a physical blow.

Stefan had threatened to kill her. Another pound of the drum in her head that made her vision undulate nauseatingly.

Worse, still, Stefan had threatened to turn her. Another domino in the row fell with a clatter and the world tipped of kilter.

On this _damn_ bridge. Her knees buckled, but she didn't fall. She kept her balance and regained a somewhat-sure footing, resting a hand on the railing to keep herself stable.

But the most devastating blow knocked the wind right out of her and made her stomach cramp violently. He didn't care. He didn't care what he did to her, and he didn't care what she thought of him for it.

More dominoes fell, harder and faster than before, and she couldn't regain her equilibrium. She stumbled, bent at the waist, away from the edge of the bridge as though the railing had burned her. Back into the road. Blood pounded almost painfully in her ears.

_He doesn't care. _

She made her way off the bridge and dropped to her hands and knees in the grass by the road, heaving up the alcohol she'd consumed that evening. Her elbows shook dangerously, threatening to drop her face first to the ground, but she fought the urge to give in to her suddenly aching joints and pushed back, sitting on her heels and breathing deeply.

She stayed like that for a long while, fighting back more nausea, until she couldn't keep up the stance any longer. She let herself fall unceremoniously to one side, throwing out an arm to break the fall. The asphalt beneath her grazed the skin of her forearm painfully. White lines in the skin turned red as blood seeped up and out, forming first droplets, then rivulets and they ran away from the open wound and spread across her skin. She examined the wound in the darkness a little longer. And suddenly, it was no longer dark.

Headlights came around the corner at a speed that sent her heart into a frenzied panic. The vehicle slowed and stopped up the road, and the door flew open. A body exited the car and stood by the door for a moment, and she could see its head twist from side to side in the soft glow from the headlights. Then it moved, coming at a frantic pace towards her. She shrank back towards the grass, feeling fear bubble into a scream in her throat. But the figure spoke, and her terror dissipated as quickly as it came on.

"Elena?"

She whimpered in reply before she could sensor the noise. The figure jogged the remaining distance and knelt beside her on the roadside. He was clearer now, but she needn't have seen him to know who he was.

"Damon." She breathed. She'd meant the words to be stronger, but her body wasn't playing.

"Hey." He whispered. He looked her over, checking for any sign that Stefan had caused her some physical harm. He honed in on the blood on her arm and she instinctively drew it closer to her body. His eyes searched hers. Frantic blue on panicked brown.

She wasn't sure if she really did feel stronger, or if she felt unable to show so much weakness in front of Damon, but for whatever reason she pushed herself more upright and stumbled to her feet. Damon stood with her, a hand extended ready to catch her if she fell. As always.

"How're you doing?" He asked, watching her from beneath concerned brows. She shrugged, feeling a little too tired to reply. "How long have you been here?"

Again, she shrugged.

Damon was quiet for a while, content to watch her. He took in how she held herself. She was off-balance, that much he could tell, and she looked a bizarre mix of well-held and ready to fall that made him nervous.

"I'm gonna kill him." Damon said, more to himself than to her. Elena raised doe-eyes to meet his. She shook her head.

"It won't help." She replied softly. "It won't help."

He knew what she meant. It was done, and there was no taking it back. Unless...

"I could make you forget." He offers. Again, she shook her head, though more vehemently.

"No. No compulsion. I don't want to forget. _You_ don't want me to forget. '_I want you to remember the things you felt when he was gone.'_ Remember?"

"He wasn't gone for this. He was here, he-."

"He was gone, Damon. He _is_ gone. That wasn't Stefan in the car with me tonight. Not the Stefan I know. I don't want to forget what this Stefan has done to me."

Damon let out a slow breath through his nose, never breaking eye contact. The resolution on his face crumbled and he looked at her with a gut-wrenching mix of compassion, worry, concern, and something completely unidentifiable. Something neither of them wanted to even try and get their heads around. Not tonight.

"I don't want you to be in pain over this." He whispered. The heartbreak written on his face flashed a memory into the forefront of her mind, but it floated back into shadow before she could snatch it and hold it still long enough to place it.

"I'll be okay."

But even as she said the words she felt the dominoes she'd carefully replaced begin to tumble again. Tears welled and a sob rose in her chest. She fought them off, but a familiar mantra built in her mind and her vision pulsed at the edges with each stab the words sent through her.

_He doesn't care. He doesn't care._

She didn't know exactly how she ended up there, but one moment the world was rolling dizzyingly and the next she was pressed into Damon's chest, scrunching her lids closed to hold back as many tears as she could. His arms held her tightly to him, and for the first time she noticed his muscles were trembling beneath her. He was cooing words in mismatched sentences into her ear, but she didn't much care. Simple noises were enough; it didn't matter that they made no sense.

Neither of them knew how long they stood there, but when Elena pulled away from him she instantly searched for his eyes through the semi-darkness. The worry she found there made her chest constrict.

"You're shaking." She said, holding out his hand to show him.

"You scared me." He admitted. He looked as though he regretted saying the words out loud the minute he said them, but she didn't care. She watched his eyes for a long while, before taking a breath and leaning in, her face inches from his own.

"Careful, Damon, you're humanity's showing."

The words gave him more relief than she knew. He stepped back with a snarky smile, keeping his hands near her to catch her should she fall. _As always. _

"Low blow, Gilbert, low blow."

She smiled for what felt like the first time in a long while. It made her feel fresh; rejuvenated. She let her muscles relax and felt a little more contented. She was exhausted, though, and she knew her somewhat good mood would only last a little while. Damon lifted her wrist, distracting her from her thoughts.

"How did you get this?" He asked, gesturing to the clotting graze on her lower arm.

"I fell." She replied simply. "Please," She said when Damon's mouth opened, "don't question me now. Just...take me home?"

He did as asked; leading her to the passenger side of the car and waiting until she was seated before closing the door and climbing in the driver's seat.

It didn't miss his attention that she held herself stiffly in the car, one hand on the dashboard, the other white-knuckling the door. He made a conscious effort to drive slowly so as not to panic her. They were nearing her house when she spoke again.

"Hey, Damon?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"How did you know where I was?"

His only reply was to offer a that's-for-me-to-know smile and keep his eyes glued to the road.

How he knew where to find her, she didn't know. But he came, and that's all that mattered.

_As always._

**A/N: Aaaaaand done! **

** Good? Bad? Ugly? Let me know! **

** Much love, **

** Someone x**


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